RPS Kyoto Paperoles : Yoshikatsu Fujii exhibition “Nagi” 4/13-4/28

01/16/2024

RPS KYOTO PAPEROLES will hold Yoshikatsu Fujii’s photo exhibition “Nagi” from April 13 to 28, 2024.
Since relocating to his hometown of Hiroshima in 2015, Fujii has been working on the “Hiroshima Graph” series, a long-term project about the history of the war in Hiroshima. The work on view in this exhibition is the third in the series and an introduction to the main body of work. Based on the testimony of Fujii’s grandfather, who was engaged in the manufacture of human torpedoes at a naval facility in Kure City, Hiroshima Prefecture during World War II, the work recalls memories of days spent with his grandfather as a child and quietly expresses gratitude for the peace that exists today and its importance.
In this exhibition, while recreating the world view of his previously released photobook “Nagi,” Fujii also attempts to convey it in a gallery space, presenting a more multifaceted point of view. We will post information about events on SNS as needed during the exhibition period, so please stay tuned.

Nagi©︎Yoshikatsu Fujii

This work back and forth between the present and the past, between imagined landscapes, and quietly speaks of gratitude for the peace that exists today and its importance, against the backdrop of the relationship between the land and the personal memories rooted in it. It is also a prelude to the main part of the work.

Ten years ago, when I first started taking photographs, I visited the ocean many, many times. I just photographed what I wanted to photograph until I was satisfied, but why was I so obsessed with the ocean? In search of the answer, I decided to look back at all the photos I had taken.
As I looked at the huge number of negatives, which were all of the sea, for some reason, I was suddenly reminded of the war experiences my grandfather had told me about when I was a child.

“I wasn’t caught in the atomic bombing.”
“I was in Kure.”
“I mean, in the Navy,” he said.
“There, I was making human torpedoes, too.”
“And of course, nobody told me what they were building, but the blueprints told it all.”

It was a childhood memory, but the first time I heard about my grandfather’s war experience was vividly etched in my memory.
However, it was unclear how my memories of my grandfather were connected to the photographs I had taken of the sea. So I decided to retrace my grandfather’s life.

It seems that the sea was always close by in my grandfather’s life.
He was born and raised in Kure, a military port town, and eventually joined the Navy. At the end of the war, a human torpedo called “Kaiten” was secretly manufactured there, and there were suspicions that my grandfather was involved in its manufacture.

How did he accept this and how did he live after the war?
Every time I researched my grandfather’s life and recalled childhood memories of spending time with him, I came to realize that his war experience had led to my obsession with the sea. And I could not help but realize the foolishness of war and how thankful I am to be able to live in peace.

This work was created using a vast number of photographs taken at sea over the past five years. This work is a work that moves back and forth between historical fact and memory, hoping that we can continue to live our ordinary everyday lives.

Yoshikatsu Fujii

Yoshikatsu Fujii Photo Exhibition “Nagi”

April 13 (Sat) – 28 (Sun), 2024
13:00~19:00 Open throughout the exhibition period, free admission
Opening hours are subject to change during the exhibition period and will be announced on SNS.

RPS Kyoto Paperoles
603 Oimatsucho, Kamigyoku, Kyoto
https://goo.gl/maps/1V5XyJ4kfuDk91F87
(Closest bus stops:Kamishichiken, Senbonimadegawa）
Contact: paperoles@reminders-project.org

Nagi©︎Yoshikatsu Fujii

Nagi©︎Yoshikatsu Fujii

Nagi©︎Yoshikatsu Fujii

Nagi©︎Yoshikatsu Fujii

Nagi©︎Yoshikatsu Fujii

Nagi©︎Yoshikatsu Fujii

Nagi©︎Yoshikatsu Fujii

Yoshikatsu Fujii | profile

Yoshikatsu Fujii is a photo-based visual storyteller working on long-form projects about memory, family, contemporary events, and history.
His main medium is a hand-made limited edition photobook. His books have been nominated for the Paris Photo Aperture Foundation PhotoBook Awards 2014, won the Self Publishing PHOTOLUX Award 2015, and won the Anamorphosis Prize 21018. The books are owned by several museums and university libraries, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York Library, National Art Library, Victoria and Albert Museum London.

Since moving to his hometown of Hiroshima in 2015, he has been creating works on the theme of the history of war in Hiroshima from his own perspective as a third-generation A-bomb survivor.

His works were exhibited at Chobi Mela International Festival of Photography (Bangladesh, 2017), Phantom Pain Clinic (Jimei × Arles International Photo Festival, China, 2017), To Infinity and Beyond (BredaPhoto Festival, Netherlands, 2018), Not standing still: new approaches in documentary photography (PHOTO 2021, Australia, 2021), KG+ SELECT(Japan, 2021) and Lived Happily Ever After(Ever Spring Museum of Fine Art, Taiwan).,etc.

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